Closure latch



y 1967 J. H. DE CLAIRE ETAL CLOSURE LATCH 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 23. 1964 INVENTORS .famesh' 566/221)? (5 BY flira fizzahz M% ArroAr/vn May 23, 1967 Filed July 23, 1964 J. H. DE CLAIRE CLOSURE LATCH Ill ET AL 3,321,226

2 Sheets-Sheec 2 if, L

[NVENTORS 1212265 1! 066/62??? (5 BY flfm fizzaa M? ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,321,226 CLOSURE LATCH James H. De Claire, East Detroit, and Akira Tanaka,

Southfield, Mich, assignors to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Filed July 23, 1964, Ser. No. 384,715 6 Claims. (Cl. 292-65) This invention relates to closure latches and more particularly to a vehicle body closure latch and latch arrangement.

One feature of this invention is that it provides an improved vehicle body closure latch. Another feature of this invention is that the latch includes a latch member movable in a generally linear path upon movement thereof between unlatched and latched positions and movable in a generally circular path upon movement thereof between latched and unlatched positions. A further feature of this invention is that it provides a latch arrangement including latch means mounted on one of a pair of relatively movable body members and striker means mounted on the other body member, with the latch means being engageable with the striker means in a partially open position of the other body member and being movable relative to the one body member in a generally linear path to move the striker means and the other body member to a closed position with respect to the one body member, Yet another feature of this invention is that the latch means are movable in a generally circular path with respect to the one body member striker means so as to release the striker means from engagement with the latch means and permit the other body member to be moved to an open position with respect to the one body member. Yet a further feature of this invention is that it provides an improved closure latch for vehicle bodies wherein a latch member is mounted on the body for movement along a generally linear path between unlatched and latched positions and is engageable with striker means on a body closure in the unlatched position thereof to move the body closure from a partially open to a closed position.

These and other features of the closure latch and latch arrangement of this invention will be readily apparent from the following specification and drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a partially broken away, partial perspective view of the rear portion of a vehicle body embodying a closure latch and latch arrangement according to this invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG- URE 1 showing the body closure in a closed position and the latch in a latched position;

FIGURE 3 is a partial view similar to FIGURE 2 and showing the latch in unlatched position;

FIGURE 4 is a view taken generally along the plane indicated by line 4-4 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a schematic illustrating the paths of movement of various parts of the latch; and

FIGURE 6 is a circuit diagram.

Referring now particularly to FIGURE 1 of the drawings, a vehicle body designated generally 10 includes a closure member or deck lid 12 which is hinged adjacent it-s forward edge 14 to the body 10 by conventional hinge means for movement between a closed position, as shown, wherein the deck lid closes the opening to the deck compartment 16 and an open position, not shown, wherein the deck lid permits access to the compartment 16.

Referring now to FIGURE 2 of the drawings, a generally U-shaped bracket 18 is secured to the inner surface of the deck lid 12 and mounts a striker means or mem- 3,321,226 Patented May 23, 1967 ber 20 which generally includes a generally U-shaped laterally extending portion 22, the legs of which are joined to vertically extending legs 24 bolted to the bracket 18 to adjustably mount the striker member 20 on the deck lid 12.

A bracket 26 is secured in any suitable manner to the rear body member or body panel 28, FIGURE 1, and one end of a link 34) is pivoted thereto at 32. The other end of the link is pivoted at 34 to an intermediate portion of a generally hook shaped latch means or latch member designated 36. The upper hook shaped portion 38 of member 36 is adapted to engage one of the legs of the striker portion 22 when the latch member 36 is in latched or unlatched positions, as will be described. The lower end of the member 36 includes an arcuately shaped closed end slot 40 which receives: a pin 42 therethrough. Pin 42 is secured to one end of a lever or arm 44 which is fixed to the output shaft 46 of a motor and gear reduction unit 48, the motor of which is of the unidirectional type. Motor 48 is secured in a suitable manner to the body panel 28. A coil tension spring 50 extends between the pin 42 and a notched extension 52 of the latch member 36 to normally hold the pin 42 in engagement with one end of the slot 40. A foot or dog 54 is pivoted at 56 to the lower end of the latch member 36 and a coil torsion spring 58 surrounding the pivot 56 and has one end 60 thereof hooked over the foot 54 and the other end thereof hooked in a notched flange 62 of member 36 to bias the foot in a counterclockwise direction about the pivot 56 and into engagement with flange 62.

When the deck lid is in a fully closed position and the latch member 36 is in a fully latched position, the parts will be as shown in FIGURE 2. If it is desired to release the latch member 36 from engagement with the striker member 20 and permit the deck lid 12 to move to an open position, the motor of unit 43 is energized to rotate shaft 46 and arm 44 in a counterclockwise direction through an arc of 180 and move the latch member 36 from its latched position of FIGURE 2 to its unlatched position of FIGURE 3. During the initial movement of the latch member 36, it will first be swung counterclockwise about the pivot 34 by arm 44 as link 30 swings clockwise about pivot 32 to shift the latch member 36 upwardly toward its 'unlatched position This initial movement of the latch member 36 moves the hook portion 38 thereof out of engagement with the striker member 26 to thereby permit the deck lid 12 to be moved to an open position, either by means of conventional counterbalancing means or by means of the Weatherstrip seal pressure. Latch member 36 will swing counterclockwise about the pivot 34 until arm 44 has rotated through an arc of and thereafter, as the arm 44 continues to swing through the remainder of its arc, latch member 36 will be swung clockwise about the pivot 34 until it reaches its fully unlatched po sition as shown in full lines in FIGURE 3. The spring 50 holds the pin 42 in engagement with one end of the slot 40 during this movement of the latch member 36 and the pin and slot provide a pivotal connection between the arm 44 and the latch member 36. It will be understood, of course, that the partially open position of deck lid 12 locates the striker member 20 out of the path of movement of the hook portion 3:8 of the latch member 36 as the latch member moves to its unlat-ched position.

The respective paths of movement of the arm 44, the link 30 and the portion 38 of the latch member 36 are shown schematically in FIGURE 5. The numeral 5 indicates the postions of these parts in the fully latched position of the member 36 and closed position of the deck lid 12, as shown in FIGURE 2. Thereafter, the numerals 6, 7, 8 and 1 represent the respective positions of these parts as the parts move from their full line position of FIGURE 2 to their full line position of FIGURE 3.

The motor of unit 48 is energized by actuation of a manually controlled switch 66, FIGURE 1, which may be located in any convenient place within the body, such as either on the instrument panel or on the glove compartment. As shown in FIGURE 6, switch 66 is connected across the battery 68, the motor, and a switch 70 designated as an unlock switch which is opened and closed in any suitable manner by the arm 44. When the deck lid is in a closed position and the latch member 36 is in a fully latched position, switch 70 is closed. When the deck lid is in an open position and the latch member 36 is in an unlatched position, switch 70 is open as shown. Connected in parallel with the switches 66 and 70 are a normally open deck lid switch 72, which is closed by the deck lid when the deck lid is in a partially closed position, and a switch 74, designated as a lock switch, which is also controlled by the arm 44 and is paired with the switch 70 so that the switch 74 is open when the switch 70 is closed and is closed when switch 7 is open.

If the deck lid 12 is in a fully open position and is moved to a partially closed position, the portion 22 of the striker member 20 will engage the cam edge '7 6 of the latch member 36 and swing the latch member slightly to the left of its position as shown in FIGURE 3 until the portion 38 of the latch member hooks over the portion 22 of the striker member to thereby hold the deck lid in a partially closed position and close switch 72. This cornpletes the circuit across the motor of unit 48 to energize the motor and move the latch member 36 from its position of FIGURE 3 to its position of FIGURE 2, as will be described, to move the deck lid to a closed position. When the deck lid reaches its fully closed position, switch 74 is opened to stop the motor and switch '70 is closed to set the circuitry for the next cycle of operation.

When the portion 22 of the striker 20 engages the cam edge 76 of the latch member 36, the latch member swings relative to the pin 42 to permit the striker member 20 to cam past the hook portion 38 of the latch member. The spring 50 returns the pin 42 into engagement with the one end of the slot 40 after the striker member and latch member are in engagement with each other.

When the latch member 36 moves from its unlatched position of FIGURE 3 to its latched position of FIGURE 2, arm 44 rotates counterclockwise with shaft 46, and link 30 swings counterclockwise about pivot 32 as the latch member 36 swings slightly clockwise about the pivot 34 but moves generally along a linear path between these two positions to ensure that the hook portion 38 of the latch member remains in engagement with the striker member 20 to move the deck lid 12 from its partially closed position to its fully closed position.

Upon reference to FIGURE 5, the numerals 1 through indicate the respective positions of the portion 38, the link 30 and the arm 44 as the latch member 36 moves from its unlatched postion of FIGURE 3 to its latched position of FIGURE 2, and it will be noted that the latch member moves along a generally linear path so that the portion 38 remains in engagement with the portion 22 of the striker member 20 to move the deck lid to its closed position.

The foot 54 provides a manual release for the deck lid 12 in the event of electrical failure or trouble as will now be described. When the latch member 36 is in its latched position, as shown in FIGURE 2, it will be noted that the foot 54 is located immediately adjacent a cam or finger 78 which is part of a key cylinder assembly 80 mounted on the body panel 28. Upon insertion of a suitable key, the cam 78 may be turned clockwise to shift the lower portion of latch member 36 to the right of its position, as shown, as slot 40 moves relative to pin 42, to thereby swing member 36 counterclockwise about pivot 34 and move portion 38 out of engagement with portion 22 of the striker member 22 and permit the deck lid 12 to move to a partially open position.

When the latch member 36 moves from its position of FIGURE 3 to its position of FIGURE 2, the foot 54 engages the cam 78 and swings clockwise against the action of spring 58 until it passes over the cam 76 and can return to its normal position, as shown.

Thus, this invention provides an improved closure latch and latch arrangement.

We claim:

1. In a vehicle body, a support, striker means, a latch member, a mounting member, means pivotally connecting the mounting member on the support member, means pivotally inter-connecting the latch member and the mounting member, the latch member and the mounting member being movable relative to each other and to the support, first operating means including a crank arm rotatable through a 360 cycle, pin and slot means interconnecting the crank arm and the latch member, the crank arm effecting movement of the latch member from latched to unlatched positions during rotation of the crank arm through a first half of the 360 cycle, the crank arm effecting movement of the latch member from unlatched to latched positions during rotation of the crank arm through a second half of the 360 cycle, and second operating means cooperable with the pin and slot means for moving the latch member relative to the operating member to permit engagement and disengagement of the latch member and the striker means. i

2. The combination recited in claim 1, wherein the latch member includes a hook-shaped portion adjacent one end thereof, the mounting member is pivotally connected to the latch member intermediate the ends thereof,

and the crank arm is connected to the latch member adjacent the other end thereof.

3. The combination recited in claim 1, wherein the pin and slot means include a pin on the crank arm and a slot in the latch member, the combination including biasing means interconnecting the crank arm and the latch member to normally locate the pin at one end of the slot.

4. The combination recited in claim 3, wherein the slot in the latch member is in the form of an are having its center at one of the pivots of the mounting member.

5. The combination recited in claim 1, wherein the first operating means include power operated means for rotating the crank arm, and the second operating means have a portion thereof located in abutting relationship to a portion of the latch member in the latched position thereof to move the latch member relative to the mounting member and the crank arm.

6. The combination recited in claim 5, wherein the latch member portion includes an abutment member pivotally mounted on the latch member and engageable With the portion of the second operating means as the latch member moves to latched position to swing the abutment member relative to the latch member and to permit the abutment member to pass over and into abutting relationship to the second operating means portion.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,011,816 12/1961 Van Noord 29211l 2,917,916 12/1959 Dall 292111 2,943,880 7/1960 Joachim et al. 292-201 2,950,138 8/1960 Meyer et al. 292-229 3,011,816 12/1961 Van Noord 292111 3,112,943 12/1963 De Marco 292111 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,022,118 1/1958 Germany.

MARVIN A. CHAMPION, Primary Examiner. J. R. MOSES, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A VEHICLE BODY, A SUPPORT, STRIKER MEANS, A LATCH MEMBER, A MOUNTING MEMBER, MEANS PIVOTALLY CONNECTING THE MOUNTING MEMBER ON THE SUPPORT MEMBER, MEANS PIVOTALLY INTERCONNECTING THE LATCH MEMBER AND THE MOUNTING MEMBER, THE LATCH MEMBER AND THE MOUNTING MEMBER BEING MOVABLE RELATIVE TO EACH OTHER AND TO THE SUPPORT, FIRST OPERATING MEANS INCLUDING A CRANK ARM ROTATABLE THROUGH A 360* CYCLE, PIN AND SLOT MEANS INTERCONNECTING THE CRANK ARM AND THE LATCH MEMBER, THE CRANK ARM EFFECTING MOVEMENT OF THE LATCH MEMBER FROM LATCHED TO UNLATCHED POSITIONS DURING ROTATION OF THE CRANK ARM THROUGH A FIRST HALF OF THE 360* CYCLE, THE CRANK ARM EFFECTING 